Apple facing renewed boycott efforts in China following trade war escalation

Shanghai, China

The increase in tensions between the United States and China in its ongoing trade war, as well as restrictions against Huawei, is fueling anti-US sentiments in China, prompting more online calls from critics of the political maneuvers to boycott Apple products.

On May 10, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration followed through with promises to penalize Chinese goods imported to the country, raising tariffs for goods including some Apple accessories from 10 to 25%. The administration is also planning to implement expanded tariffs by the end of June, which could affect Apple's core products, including iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.

Chinese tech giant Huawei is also facing increased scrutiny from the United States, including an executive order on May 15 that bans U.S. businesses from using telecommunications equipment from companies considered a national security risk. Another order effectively banned Huawei from buying US technology without prior government approval, making it harder for the company to do business.

The tensions between the two countries has led to an expected rise of anger from Chinese internet users against the United States, reports Buzzfeed. As a symbol of American capitalism, Apple has again been caught in the crossfire, becoming the target for the criticism, and an attempt to encourage a boycott of its products.

Posts on Weibo urge others to consider buying Huawei smartphones and devices instead of Apple, hyping the local company's hardware and attacking the Cupertino rival.

This is not the first time Apple has become the subject of an attempted boycott. In December, amid tensions triggered by the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, companies attempted to show solidarity with the company by encouraging employees to buy Huawei goods, while simultaneously threatening to confiscate Apple devices from employees and inflicting other punishments to urge a shift away from the iPhone.

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47 Comments

avon b7

said about 4 years ago

I think it's a given that Apple will be caught in the shockwaves but with each move Donald Trump makes other US companies have sleepless nights. Boeing is probably one step closer to seeing Chinese orders slashed. Qualcomm may be wondering what impact this will have on its business too. If HiSilicon decides to open up availability of its second tier processors and WiFi chipsets to the wider market, things will just get much worse.

I believe Huawei has been stockpiling certain components for a while now and increasing the amount of home grown technology in its equipment. Obviously these moves are to protect itself but they come at the cost of lost business for US companies.

jbdragon

said about 4 years ago

The whole Chinese Boycott is just DUMB!!! It really comes down to making things better for THEM also. It's the Tariffs of American goods going into China that are unfair that Trump is trying to end. Short of going to WAR, which no one wants, all Trump can do is play their game and throw Tariffs on their products coming into the U.S. We've been getting screwed by China for YEARS and nothing has been done about it. This is all in China's hands. They drop their Tariffs and play fair, and stop stealing our IP's and ours goes away also. Fair on both sides.

It used to be the Federal Government was paid for by Tariffs, not taxing the American people!!! While prices will go up a little, its not a huge deal. There are also products made in other countries. Manufacturing is slowly growing in the U.S once again. It left this country for China for many, many many years, so coming back here is not going to happen overnight. It's also had been slowly moving out of China to other country's as China's costs have been growing over the years.

When TAXES go up, I just buy less. Do you really need all that China made garbage or can you do without some of it? Really, these Tariffs hurt China far more than the U.S. as Trade has been so imbalanced. When you really think about it, has it really effected you? Probably not. For example I upgrade my iPhone every 4 years. So last year, getting the XS, I won't be upgrading until 2022. Maybe these tariff wars will be over by then? If not, and the phone is a little more, well I did get 4 years out of it. Then again, to make up for the higher prices, maybe I go 5 years with this one? I could have gone 5 years with the iPhone 6 I had. It still worked fine. Smartphones are a mature market these days. Not a whole lot changing. A little faster. Apple supports their older hardware for a number of years. So new iOS updates is almost like getting a new phone anyway.

wood1208

said about 4 years ago

Like 2nd World War, able countries must unite to fight trade war against China. Better to loose little now than more further down in future.

currentinterest

said about 4 years ago

The tariffs are a sales tax on the American people. It is one way Trump can mitigate the disastrous effects on revenue produced by his tax cut for the 1%. It hurts China sales by making them so expensive that the typical American can’t afford them. There are two separate issues, trade and IP. Trade wars do nothing to resolve IP issues. Those require a combined EU and US approach that Trump seems unable to grasp. So, he is making the IS worker pay the price, and invites retaliation against one of America’s foremost companies.